Residents said they heard a loud bang during Sunday’s storm. Lewiston firefighters said a 30-foot wall buckled sometime between 4 and 5 p.m.

“It sounded like someone came in, slammed the door, went up and slammed another door, shook the apartment,” said Peter Olsen, a tenant.

What Olsen and 15 of his neighbors heard was the foundation buckling under the weight of the water that gathered on the side of their eight-unit apartment building at East Wood Village.

Everyone was evacuated from the building at 184 Randall Road. The power and gas were turned off. No one was hurt.

Olsen grabbed a few articles of clothing, but couldn’t find his cat. He spent the night on his ex-wife’s couch.

On Monday, he and his son were allowed in the building to get medication and look for the cat. They came out with an empty cat carrier.

“We couldn’t find him at first, and then he went under a china closet and won’t budge,” Jake Olsen said. “Yeah, he was way too scared.”

An excavator dug a trench near the foundation. A wall was pushed in and there were twisted floorboards and broken pipes in the basement.

Structural engineers were called in to assess the damage. They told the owner the building is structurally sound, but some work is needed.

“We are going to remove some dirt away from the foundation, and we’re going to do a couple things on the inside, pinning and supporting. And once we get that done, the power will be going back on, and the tenants will be able to move back into the building tomorrow,” said Steven Morse, the owner of the building.

James Burgess said his grandson had just moved into one of the apartments with his wife and two kids. They only had enough time to grab a few things.

“Finally, the fire department let him go in and retrieve a couple firearms that he had, a computer and their bird. Just a few things, but the kids don’t have very many clothes or neither do the two grownups,” Burgess said.

The American Red Cross is helping residents who have no place to go. Most residents are staying with friends or relatives.